


Seaweed - AU April Prompts

by shabootl



Series: AU April [7]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Akakuroo - Freeform, Bubble tea au, Cafe AU, M/M, kuroo is a hot mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:07:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23530549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shabootl/pseuds/shabootl
Summary: Kuroo was disturbingly bad at wrapping nori, but he wasn't about to give up on such a skill, especially not when a new regular orders them all the time.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Kuroo Tetsurou
Series: AU April [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1683811
Comments: 4
Kudos: 79





	Seaweed - AU April Prompts

DAY SEVEN: Seaweed

Fandom: Haikyuu!! - Bubble Tea Shop AU

Pairing: Akaashi x Kuroo

* * *

“Er--”

“I think I got it,” Kuroo said. The sound of quiet chatter and crinkling nori sheets were only noise in the small shop. They had a few patrons sitting around, but they weren’t busy this time of day, so Iwaizumi had taken to training their new employee.

Iwaizumi had low hopes for finding a good replacement, and so he thought he’d seen the light when Kuroo Tetsurou applied--Kuroo picked up on how to use all the machines in a flash and had already memorized half the menu during his first training. Kuroo was charismatic with the guests. The only thing Kuroo couldn’t quite get was--

“Ah, man.” Kuroo laughed awkwardly.

Iwaizumi glanced down at yet another of Kuroo’s attempts at making onigiri. It was a crucial skill at KaraTea; their onigiri was the best out of all the bubble tea shops in the regional area. Kuroo had easily memorized the official steps. The execution, however, was terrible.

Half of the filling was poking out, and Kuroo had struggled to wrap the seaweed properly. The triangle shape was apparently throwing him off. No matter. Iwaizumi only just now showed him how to wrap them. Kuroo would get it sooner or later.

“Alright. How about I show you how to cook the fillings.” Iwaizumi turned to walk Kuroo into the kitchen.

“Yeah, sure.”

Iwaizumi screamed internally. Of course there was a catch.

\---

Not being able to wrap a wad of rice was embarrassing. Kuroo knew that, Kuroo felt that, and Kuroo was reminded of that every day at work because Daishou wouldn’t shut up about it.

Kuroo’s quick proficiency of every other aspect of the job was the only reason Tamaki(his manager) hired him--he was sure. Kuroo felt really bad about that though. He _could_ wrap the stupid food. He just couldn’t replicate the stupid 15 over fancy ways to decorate a damn riceball. Not to mention, Kuroo really struggled with getting the right rice to filling ratio.

So needless to say, Tamaki had Kuroo strictly on barista and cashier work.

Dealing with Daishou wouldn’t be so bad, were it not for other reminders that he got--all the time.

“Why can’t I ever have _your_ cooking, Kuroo-kun.” Satsuki--one of Kuroo’s regulars--gave an overexaggerated pout as she picked up her food. “You never make any for me.”

Kuroo gave a small laugh. “The food all tastes the same in the end, Satsuki-san.” Or, so it would if anyone other than Kuroo made it

“But it’s different,” Satsuki insisted. “It’ll taste different knowing your hands put all the love and care into the food.”

The tips of Kuroo’s ears grew hot. How could girls actually say that sort of thing out loud? Kuroo was starting to think not cooking anything was going to create a hype for when he actually _did_ start cooking in the back--if he’d ever be able to.

“Another time, Satsuki-san.” Kuroo was saved as a group of girls entered the shop.

Unfortunately, Satsuki wasn’t the only regular that wanted Kuroo to make their food. It was like that almost everyday.

“Kuroo-kuuuun. Just one! That’s all!”

“Please, Kuroo-kun? I won’t tell anyone I promise.”

“Kuroo-kun. I’ll buy you your favorite ice cream in exchange. That sounds fair, right?”

But Kuroo gently turned them all down lightly. After a month of it, Kuroo was starting to lose his mind.

“Tamaki-san. Could I do the barista station more often? I noticed the roster has me on cashier everyday. For the next two weeks.”

“Oh.” Tamaki gave Kuroo a small smile. “I’m sorry, Kuroo, but you seem to attract more people to the shop. We’ve gotten more foot traffic with you at the register.”

 _So in other words, sucks to suck_.

“I’ve been working on all the recipes,” Kuroo said.

Tamaki shook his head with seemingly no sense of caring. “Now, Kuroo, I can’t have you serving sub-par onigiri, now can I? You’re staying in the front.”

“But--” Kuroo fell short of an argument. “If I can get the onigiri down, will you let me do the other stations?”

Tamaki frowned. “Why are you so insistent?”

Kuroo paused. He was mostly embarrassed, really. Who works for a shop famous for onigiri and couldn’t make onigiri? _That sounds like it might work, actually._ Kuroo repeated his reasoning to his manager.

Tamaki shrugged. “If you’re that enthusiastic about the job, I can’t complain. But I can’t have you wasting ingredients. You’ve got a week, Kuroo.”

...

Every second Kuroo spent at the register dealing with his ardent customers was another reminder that he couldn’t cook for shit. And just when things couldn’t get any worse, a very pretty boy entered the store.

Black curls you wanted to run your hand through, grey eyes that could pierce through any heart, angelic features that would make a greek statue weep-- _that_ embodiment of beautiful walked into _Kuroo’s_ job, walked up to _Kuroo’s_ register, and gave _Kuroo_ his order: Medium Bubble Milk Tea, 50% the regular amount of sugar & ice, and of course, two kani onigiri.

Kuroo had already been trying to hold himself together enough to let his muscle-memory take over for him as he took the order. The vision of beauty and then the trauma of yet another onigiri order was enough to give Kuroo’s brain a short-circuit. There was _nothing_ , absolutely _nothing_ going on in Kuroo’s brain. But when Kuroo finally blinked back into reality, the new customer was waiting at the other end of the counter to wait for his order.

Kuroo gave the customer furtive looks every now and then. The boy opted to eat in and was sitting by the windows by himself, reading.

“You don’t have a chance. Don’t bother,” came Daishou’s voice behind him.

“Screw you, asshole,” Kuroo said. But he opted not to disturb him, the boy didn’t look in a socializing mood. A damn shame.

Fortune favored Kuroo well enough that this black haired boy came to the shop everyday for the next three days, always with the same order--which wasn’t at all unusual. But something about handing the boy the onigiri that _Daishou_ made made Kuroo’s stomach churn. He sudden;y recalled Satsuki’s words from several weeks ago: ' _It’ll taste different knowing your hands put all the love and care into the food…'_

Maybe it was stupid, but it gave Kuroo hope that somehow, through the crazy forces of the universe, giving the boy food that _Kuroo_ made would bring them together.

And so, the appearance of the angel from heaven and the voice of the serpent from hell was enough to make Kuroo determined to get that perfect onigiri. It was his duty. His destiny. Everything rode on this.

For the next three days, Kuroo’s break time involved watching whoever was at the kitchen fold and wrap the onigiri. It got to the point where Daishou had lost all motivation to jeer and simply ignored Kuroo altogether. 

After the entire week of pretty boy visits and practicing like a maniac, Kuroo placed a perfectly wrapped tray of all 15 of the onigiri types. Tamaki examined and ate at them all, and Kuroo saw the flash of annoyance in his eyes before he said that yes, Kuroo didn’t have to work the register everyday. Victory was sweet.

But then Kuroo realized that working in the kitchens or as the barista meant that he wouldn’t interact with the boy. And oh, that wouldn’t do. He didn’t even know the boy’s name yet!

The ding! Signaling a new order sounded and Kuroo sighed. Then he saw the details of the order: Medium Bubble Milk Tea, 50% the regular amount of sugar & ice, two kani onigiri.

Kuroo gaped then stuck his head out of the back. Sure enough, the boy stood by the pick up counter, waiting. Kuroo ducked back to his station and clapped his hands. Showtime.

Kuroo placed every bit of concentration and precision into all of his actions. There was no way he would fail. Kuroo announced to the front that he was going to take his break after this next order. That would coincidentally let Kuroo hand the boy his order, but also possibly have short conversation since he was on break.

Kuroo bagged the food and handed it to the boy. The bag was clear, dso he immediately noticed there were three onigiri in the bag. He looked up at Kuroo questioningly.

“It’s on the house,” Kuroo said. “For my new favorite regular.”

The boy stared at him for a minute before nodding. “Thank you--” he looked at Kuroo’s name tag, “--Kuroo-san.”

 _Oh my god my name came out of his mouth_. “Uh, yeah sure, you’re welcome, um…?”

“Akaashi.”

Kuroo grinned. “Akaashi-kun.”

Akaashi nodded and walked away from Kuroo without another word, walking too fast for Kuroo to get a word in.

Behind Kuroo, Daishou laughed into his hand. “Nice flirting skills there, Rooster-Head.”

But Kuroo was too giddy to give a crap about Daishou’s taunt. But then everything came crashing down when his eyes trailed to Akaashi and saw Akaashi stuffing and mixing a concoction of several of their over-the-counter add-ons into his onigiri. _Shit. Is it that bad? Did I do it wrong?_ Kuroo wanted to shrink into himself and die.

.

Kuroo sat in the corner on the other side of the shop to finish the rest of his break and secretly spy on Akaashi. Akaashi didn’t appear surprised or upset when he first unwrapped the onigiri. What had Kuroo done to screw it up?

“It’s not you.” Yaku, the third person on staff, slid into the seat across from Kuroo. “He does that everytime he buys.”

“Wait, what?”

Yaku gave him a hard look. “You know I hate repeating myself.”

“So what you’re saying is,” Kuroo said slowly. “I didn’t make it bland.”

Yaku pursed his lips. “Well, I mean, I don’t know about that--”

“Hey!”

“--because I didn’t taste it myself. But it’s not like he doesn’t do that whenever I or Daishou make it.” Yaku shrugged.

..

From then on, whenever Kuroo was working at the register, he spied on the ingredients and proportions of what AKaashi put in which onigiri. It was a challenge, but a challenge in the name of love. Kuroo was going to make Akaashi’s food perfectly. That would put a smile on his face, wouldn’t it? _Or he’ll think you’re a creepy stalker_. Kuroo planned his entire wooing operation out.

First, he started small. Kuroo initially tried making puns when he took Akaashi’s order but all that got was an eye-twitch(which Kuroo was pretty sure was a bad thing), but when that didn’t work out, Kuroo would occasionally only charged Akaashi for a small tea when he actually ordered large (when Tamaki wasn’t looking of course). Akaashi would shoot Kuroo a weird look when he did, and Kuroo could only hope Akaashi didn’t think it was weird.

“Kuroo-san.”

Kuroo smiled wide when Akaashi walked in. “The usual, Akaashi-kun?”

Akaashi nodded. But before he paid for his order, he spoke. “Kuroo-san.”

“Yeah?”

Akaashi's eyes narrowed. "What do you want from me?"

"Huh?" Kuroo genuinely had no idea what he meant.

"You keep treating me, giving me extra food and drink," Akaashi said. "Are you buttering me up for something?"

Ah, but of course a perfect being would be perfectly astute. That was kind of embarrassing to be caught. Especially when Kuroo was still building to the real 'buttering up' part.

"Uh, no," Kuroo said. He winked.

Akaashi held a completely blank look as he paid for his food and moved on.

Once Kuroo was out of Akaashi's field of vision, Kuroo facepalmed. _Who the hell winks in real life? What is wrong with me? Why did I think that was an acceptable response?_

So maybe Kuroo needed a step in between his failed attempts at getting Akaashi to like him and giving Akaashi a sad attempt at recreating Akaashi’s spice mix--which of course, was going absolutely terribly.

.

For the next two weeks, Kuroo spent his time watching and watching and watching Akaashi do his seasoning magic. It was almost like he was examining a cooking video clip over and over again. It was a shame it wasn’t socially acceptable to film someone making food. Was it creepier that Kuroo _wished_ he could record Akaashi make his food so he could learn the recipe or was it creepier that Kuroo wanted to record Akaashi in the first place so he could do that step _for_ Akaashi?

It was better not to think about it.

But Kuroo continued his streak of stupid puns, silly winks, and an unacceptable amount of favoritism. He’d even started marking the cups with little hearts or ‘you’re cute’ comments when he was acting as barista. And if Akaashi was ever bothered by it, he never said anything.

But one day, the routine changed.

Kuroo slid Akaashi’s cup to him. Today’s cup just had a simple drawing of a cat with a ball of yarn. Akaashi grabbed his drink over Kuroo’s hand to keep Kuroo from slipping away.

“Most people would’ve asked someone out by this point, Kuroo-san.”

Kuroo froze, then he felt his blood rush to his head. _Busted_. He could barely meet Akaashi’s eyes. “Is that so?”

The end of Akaashi’s mouth quirked. “Yes. Especially when the message has been sent and received so much to the point where a charity needs to be called since you’re such a hopeless case.”

Wow. _Who gets scolded for not confessing from the crush you're supposed to be confessing to?_ _Might as well shoot my shot, I guess._ He imagined this going a lot better in his head.

“Hopeless as in I should give up, or hopeless as in…?”

Akaashi tilted his head owlishly.

 _So cute_.

“Your co-worker over there told me something interesting.” Akaashi gestured at Daishou. “He said you’ve been watching me and trying to replicate my onigiri seasonings.”

Kuroo’s blood ran cold. _That snake_.

“If you wanted a cooking lesson, you could have just asked,” Akaashi said.

Kuroo stared at Akaashi, trying to figure out if that last bit was a joke or not. “Um. I don’t really know how to say this...”

Akaashi shook his head and Kuroo stopped.

Akaashi gave Kuroo a wry smirk. “During your next break, I’ll show you how it’s done.”

“What does that mean?” Kuroo’s brain was about to combust.

Akaashi gave him an annoyed look. “Just meet me at my table at your next break, idiot.” And he took his order and walked away.

Kuroo stared in shock until Akaashi made a shooing motion to get Kuroo to go back to work. Kuroo spun around and did as he was told.

“Hey, Daishou…” Kuroo started.

“You were getting annoying and it was gross,” Daishou said and he completely ignored Kuroo and went back to the register.

So Kuroo stood there, dumbstruck, trying to figure out what the fuck just happened.

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt was seaweed so how could I write something without Akaashi in it.
> 
> Honestly, Kuroo in that last line is me, because I don't think I've told anyone this, but I write these the day of or the day before so it's a real challenge. These fics are supposed to be around 800 words. And then this happens and my brain is eventually just gone after doing this every day. It's a fun kind of struggle though, cause at the end of the month, it feels nice. So whatever, I guess.


End file.
